Nobody Move

Philip Elliott

Sep 2019 · Into the Void

About this ebook

Winner: Ontario Author Project; Longlisted: Millennium Book Award

"Elliott has a real feel for comedic noir in the Elmore Leonard vein, and his debut novel screams cult classic" —Booklist

Eddie Vegas made a terrible mistake. Now he has to pay the price. After a botched debt collection turned double murder, Eddie splits, desperate to avoid his employer, notorious L.A. crime boss Saul Benedict, and his men (and Eddie’s ex-partners), Floyd and Sawyer, as well as the police. Soon he becomes entangled with the clever and beautiful Dakota, a Native American woman fresh in the City of Angels to find her missing friend—someone Eddie might know something about. Meanwhile in Texas, ex-assassin Rufus, seeking vengeance for his murdered brother, takes up his beloved daggers one final time and begins the long drive to L.A. When the bodies begin to mount, Detective Alison Lockley’s hunt for the killers becomes increasingly urgent. As paths cross, confusion ensues, and no one’s entirely sure who’s after who. But one thing is clear: They’re not all getting out of this alive.

Praise for Nobody Move

“A multifaceted series opener by a promising new voice in hard-boiled crime fiction. Fans of Elmore Leonard and Jim Thompson will find much to savor”

—Kirkus Reviews

"a new spin on the genre"

—San Francisco Book Review

"makes reading fun again"

—US Review of Books

"impossible to put down"

—Kevin Wilson, NYT bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

"fast-paced and chock full of interesting characters [and] chillingly delicious evil"

—IndieReader

"first class neo-noir"

—Murder, Mayhem & More

"not a single dull moment"

—Online Book Club

"satire at its best"

—Readers' Favorite

"like Tarantino on the page . . . rushes at you from page one"

—Dietrich Kalteis, award-winning author of Poughkeepsie Shuffle

"Elliott has a gift for upholding momentum that never slows. The characterization is great, but it’s the high-octane action and a horde of twists along with tight plotting that make the book a winner"

—The Prairies Book Review

Ratings and reviews

Nobody Moves is reminiscent of the 90s - early 2000s Tarantino movies, so if you liked those, this should be right up your alley. There's twisted, crazy action tempered with dramatic conversations, and the settings are wonderfully drawn. There is a lot going on, and it's a lot to keep up with. It made me think of a game of chess as the characters make their moves toward and away from each other. Then we have the relationships between the characters, some known and some not, and how they come together in some unlikely circumstances. This one doesn't give us many truly good guys, most of the players in this twisted game are varying degrees of bad, depending on what they'll do and how far they're willing to go. I realize I'm being incredibly vague, but it's near to impossible to give details about this first Angel City book without giving anything away, and this is one that needs be read spoiler-free. Suffice it say that Nobody Moves is full of murder and mayhem, and it moves at break-neck speed from start to finish.

This is a pretty funny story of one-after-another screw-ups. A bit crude in the language in some parts but overall a really good read. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

About the author

Philip Elliott is an award-winning author, freelance editor, and founder and editor-in-chief of award-winning literary journal and small press publisher Into the Void. Philip was a National Juror of the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and a winner of the 2018 Big Pond Rumours Chapbook Prize. His writing has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. A music and film obsessive, Philip lives in Toronto with his wife and their spoiled pug.